The Universe Hasnt Ended Yet
by CreamLemon
Summary: A newly regenerated  and ginger  12th Doctor goes back to 21st century London for some fish and chips, where he makes a mess out of Rose Tyler's time line.  Now he must fix it, but at what cost?  M rating starts at chap 7
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Right now this is rated T, but I don't know if that will last. I haven't quite decided, but it is very possible this will evolve into a mature rating. You've been forewarned.

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The new Doctor was still fingering his hair and feeling reckless when he stumbled out of the tardis and into a spring afternoon of early 21st century. (Ginger, finally!) He fancied a meal of fish and chips. Good old London. He had always loved London. Loved its people, loved its food…he was so hungry…

He only had to walk a block before he found an open shop and ordered one of everything off the menu, sitting down in front of a tray of greasy goodness, prepared to ingest it all. He was only a few bites into his chips when the bell rang and he looked up to see a gaggle of teenaged girls enter the restaurant. It was probably a pervy new aspect of his personality (that's what comes of being a ginger) but he couldn't help but stare at them, all in school uniforms and still a ways away from eighteen. The lead girl was a beautiful, caramel skinned girl with a long black ponytail. He liked the look of her very much, but as the door shut it was unexpectedly thrown open again, the bell jangling loudly. "Oi, you three," a new young girl cried. "What'd you go and bugger off without me for?"

Before he could even get a good look at the girl a name entered his brain. Rose Tyler.

The memory of her smell came to him first, baby powder and human. And then the sound of her laugh and then everything else. His ginger self felt agonizing loneliness for the first time. That human smell of Rose was the smell of melancholy and lost chances. Of never saying what he wanted to say when he had the chance to say it. It wasn't a new smell that came with her, but one that was so prevalent in his 900 years. Forget being only a few hours old, he felt absolutely ancient.

He knew that he should leave-go back to the tardis so he could process these new feelings and hopefully come out of it all mentally intact-but here was his lost Rose right in front of him. Time lines be damned (he really _was_ being reckless)-he had to stay.

This school-age Rose had a navy uniform blazer thrown over one arm and a red satchel hanging off the opposite shoulder. Her plaid skirt was too short and one of her knee socks had fallen down, giving her both an air of youthful cuteness, and at the same time making her absolutely irresistible. (I really have turned into a perv…)

The four girls ordered and sat down at a booth a few meters away. Rose sat on the end opposite the pretty pony-tailed girl, who seemed to be the ring leader. He couldn't help but stare. She seemed happy, while the last time he had seen her he had been so sad. And that had been his fault. If she had never met him, if this had been her life-she would be happy.

"Who wants to come over to study for the GCSE's this weekend?" one girl, a brunette, asked. "My mum said we could make a night of it." Around her the others groaned.

"Like anyone cares about _studying_," Rose said. "So that dork Mickey's been making eyes at me again," Rose switched the topic away from school. The Doctor smiled.

"You only wish he'd been making eyes at you," a girl even blonder than Rose spoke up with a laugh that made Rose blush a little. (Irresistible.)

"Better you than me," said the brunette.

"Honestly, if that little twerp fancied me I would jump off a bridge," the pony-tail said. "You can jump off the Jericho Street bridge-you'll only break your leg."

Rose looked down at her plate of chips. "Yes, well, I like older men anyway." she did her best to smile, but the Doctor could tell that the teasing bothered her.

"Rosie darling, be a peach and get me the ketchup," the head girl said, even though she was sitting the closest to the condiment counter.

"Sure," Rose said with a weak smile and got up. She had to pass the Doctor's table to reach it.

"You're not going to put up with that are you?" the Doctor muttered. "My Rose wouldn't put up with that."

Rose turned abruptly. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Who me? No, not me."

Rose gave him her dazzling Rose smile-which she had not used once on her friends. "All right then." She continued smiling. "See you later."

The girls all started giggling together when she returned to the table, Rose included. "Older men like that one?" the other blond teased. "Ugh. Ginger. Can't stand a ginger." (Well that was uncalled for.)

"I dunno," Rose said, giving him a sideways glance that he managed not to smile at. "I kind of like a guy with a little scruff to him."

The Doctor ran his hand over the goatee he was sporting…and he'd been thinking of shaving it off. Well then.

"Go talk to him," the alpha girl said. "I dare you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Rose said.

"Go on-anything's better than Mickey Smith," Blondie said.

A brief storm passed over Rose's face, and she got up abruptly. "Fine-watch me."

The Doctor scrambled to get up, to flee this place because it was a terrible mistake, but when pushing himself up, his palm slipped on a bit of grease on the table and he fell back in his seat (clumsy, pervy, what else is wrong with this body?). Rose slipped into opposite seat of the booth. "My friends dared me to come talk to you," she said, biting her lip in a shy gesture.

"I heard," he answered, because now he was stuck. "Have a chip?"

"Thanks." She reached over and took a chip from the plate in front of him. "What's with all this food?" she asked.

"I'm hungry," he answered matter-of-factly.

"You must be."

"So…Rosie…that's a good name."

"Just Rose, actually," she said. "Jess just calls me that to be cheeky. I hate it."

"Rose. Great name, I love it."

"Me too." Her smile was cautious. "What's your name?"

"Joh-" he stopped himself. Had he used the John Smith name in front of Rose before? He wasn't sure…better safe than sorry. "Jimmy Stone," he finished lamely, looking at the fake rocks molded in plastic along the walls of the shop. "Is my name." (Jimmy…I don't feel like a Jimmy, do I?)

"Jimmy, huh?" she said. "So Jimmy, my friends and I like older men-" she said that as slow and sultry as her youthful experience allowed. She was _flirting_ with _him._ "How old are you, Jimmy?" Why did she keep saying that name-he hated it already.

"How old do I look?" he asked.

"Oh, I'd say no more than twenty-not that much older than me…but old enough."

Twenty. Twenty? He hadn't looked twenty since he _was_ twenty. No alien force was going to take him seriously if he looked barely older than a child. "Spot on, Rose," he said. "Aren't you clever."

"Not really," she said. "I've got GCSEs coming up and I sooo don't care. I'm only sixteen. Is that too young?"

The Doctor gulped. "It's a very good age to be," he said finally. "Enjoying it much?"

"Not so far," she answered, giving her friends a fast glance. "Look, I know I'm too young for you and I'm probably not your type, but it would give my friends such a shock if I left with you right now, and that would _really_ make my day. We could just walk around the bend and go our separate ways-"

"Uh, sure," he said, standing up without falling this time. He looked at his pile of food, but suddenly wasn't so hungry after all.

Rose's face spread into another real grin. "You are brilliant Jimmy, just brilliant."

"Can I carry your bag?" he asked, gesturing towards the heavy looking satchel.

"Oh, a gentleman are we?" she cooed, and handed it over, linking her elbow with his as they walked out of the shop together. She turned to give her slack-jawed friends a knowing wink.

The Doctor was very aware of Rose hanging on to him. It had been so long since they had touched, he was afraid the emotion of it was going to split him in half. He was really good at holding things in usually, but this body was too young, both in a chronological sense (ha, that's a funny one) and in the sense that he was twenty-flippin'-years old. He was not prepared to deal with being so young-no wonder he was a perv.

They walked around the corner and Rose took her school bag back from him. "Thanks a lot. That was kind of fun."

"Any time," he answered.

She lingered in front of him. "You really are kind of cute," she offered, and reached up and touched the goatee with one finger. "I've never been a fan of red hair before…but I think its growing on me."

There was nothing else he could do, circumstances being as they were. He leaned forward and kissed her. It was supposed to be brief and friendly, at least, that's how he justified it, but after five seconds they did not separate, or ten, and he raised his hands to cup her face and when they separated he very nearly told her how much he loved her. But the damage he could cause by doing that….

She moaned a little when they separated and she looked up at him with her face still in his hands and the expression in her eyes told him all he needed to know. He had already caused too much damage.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Just a short segue chapter.

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Chapter 2

"I'm sorry," the Doctor managed to whisper.

"What for?"

"I'm not-I shouldn't have done that."

"It's not the end of the universe," she said. He wasn't so sure about that. "Jimmy?"

"What?"

"You're still holding my face."

His hands dropped to his sides, and Rose stepped back a little. "Why did you do that?"

"I couldn't help myself," he answered honestly. To his shock she grinned at this.

"I'm irresistible to you? That is so….hot." She giggled a little. "Never said that about a bloke I've snogged before. Most of them were rather lacking." The smile fell from her face. "So what's wrong with you? There's always something wrong with every bloke I've ever snogged, so what is it?"

He stared at her. "I…had better go."

He turned away, but she grabbed him by the hand. "Wait! When can I see you again."

"You really shouldn't."

"Can I at least give you my number?"

He sighed. "Yeah. Sure." He didn't need it written on a piece of paper-he had never forgotten anything about her, not even a telephone number. He took it anyway when she scribbled it down on a corner of a homework paper. "Goodbye Rose," he said, his heart breaking all over again.

She didn't seem nearly as upset. "You'll call me," she said. "You can't resist me. You think I'm pretty, don't you?"

"I think you're beautiful," he assured her before he turned away.

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Back at the Tardis the Doctor began to prepare to take off and get as far away from 21st century London as he could. He was never coming back.

The Doctor reached into his pocket to use the sonic screwdriver to lock the years out of the system when his fingers brushed against the scrap with Rose's phone number, and he remembered everything about her yet again. Including that she had a boyfriend named Jimmy Stone that had broken her heart.

He was surprised that the universe hadn't collapsed yet.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The name hadn't come out of nowhere-he had heard Rose say it to a plastic Mickey in a Pizza shop during the first adventure they had shared together. He had doomed himself by saying that name instead of John Smith. John Smith-like she would never put two and two together. Stupid, stupid…

He paced the Tardis for several hours trying to think of a way to fix this, but there was no way. He had started this, and now he had to see it through or else he could tear a hole in the fabric of time, and that, that was messy. He hated to do it, but there was only one option for him.

He dialed the number that he hadn't forgotten and prayed that the Tardis would feel his desperation and send the call to the correct time. "Hello?" Jacky Tyler said on the other end of the line.

"Hey-it's the Doctor," he said trying to sound cheerful and nonchalant. "When is this?"

"Christmas, 2005. You and Rose just left a few hours ago. Cor, I can't get used to your new voice." He let out a sigh of relief. He had just changed into his 10th regeneration. Jackie hadn't had time to get used to him yet. Bless the Tardis. "Is everything okay? Where's Rose?"

"Everything is fine," he assured. "Just out of curiosity, what can you tell me about an ex boyfriend of Rose's? Chap by the name of Jimmy Stone?" She went silent on the other end of the line. "Jackie?"

"That bastard," she breathed. "Disappearing for days on end and not telling her where he had gone or what he had been doing. Into something shady too, I know it. He never had a job-he was a musician. A bloody awful one too. But when he was around he seemed to have money…Rose dropped out of school for him and got a flat with the bastard for about six months when she was sixteen. She was off her rocker for him-destroyed her life. If it hadn't been for him, I don't think she ever would have run off with bloody _you_."

The Doctor felt cold all over. Sometimes he hated time travel.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So how are things going? I'm having fun with this story. Are you?

Still torn over my rating. I kinda feel dirty about writing things too mature with the Doctor, but at the same time, I like my fanfics on the naughty side... Shall we take a vote?

Chapter 4

So in order to meet Rose and fall in love with her in her future and his past, he was going to have to break her heart. Why? He leaned against the Tardis console, his ginger hair hanging in his face, and for a moment he hated it. (Always wanted to be a ginger and now you can't enjoy it.) How could he break her heart? How could he do that to his Rose? The universe was never fair. No one knew that better than the last of the Time Lords. But why could it never give him a break?

He let himself slide down to the floor, where he pulled his knees up and wrapped himself into a small ball. Rose, Rose. His Rose. He was going to have to hurt her so bad…

Was he ever being an emotional child, he realized, staring up at the underside of the console. He had destroyed entire civilizations more than once. (In fact, he had destroyed the moon of Keldex One twice.) What was one human heart? Of course she didn't have a backup like he did. One heart to break every time he did something horrible, the other to keep him going. He could do this. He had to. The universe depended on him. The Doctor got up so abruptly he hit his head on the console and was blinking away splotches in front of his eyes and rubbing his forehead as he walked down the hall to the wardrobe. Undercover operations had their own charm, what with renting a flat, using money…having an ID card. He did enjoy making horrible photos for them.

The Doctor had changed into new clothes before leaving the Tardis the first time, and fortunately he had dressed the part of a deadbeat musician. He was wearing jeans and trainers a flannel shirt over a black t-shirt-very Kurt Cobain. He had thought he was just being idiosyncratic.

He packed a suitcase of similar clothing and went to the garage to pick out a vehicle. He had amassed quite a collection of small crafts over the years (while the Tardis was bigger on the inside, the doors were not), and chose this time a fairly decrepit 1970's motorbike. He was missing something, he thought as he sat on the bike with the suitcase tied to the back. Bad musician! How lucky that he was never musically inclined. He dipped back into the bowels of the Tardis until he found the music room and came back with an acoustic guitar slung on his back. Well then. He was set.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:

Sorry this took a couple days-been working on original stuff.

Orangepeacock-I dont have an actor candidate. Not a Brit, so I dont really know any young actors over there outside of the harry potter movies.

_Chapter 5_

"I can't believe you actually called me," Rose said, leaning into him as they walked. "I figured you thought I was just some silly kid."

"I never thought that."

"What?"

"I _would_ never think that."

"I'm glad. I think things are going well-are things going well?" They had fish and chips for dinner, and now they were simply wandering the streets of South London, Rose clinging to him tightly, and the Doctor not wanting to let her go. This had been a fantasy of his a long time ago, so very long ago. Two regenerations ago, and so much had happened in between. Yet still, somehow, he was fairly certain he still felt the same way about her. It was so easy to fall in love…he used to do it all the time, but that had tapered off a little after the fiasco with River. He was so tired of having a broken heart and breaking hearts, and here he was, doing it all over again.

"Yes," he told her. The truth was, it was agonizingly difficult to get through the evening without mentioning time travel. He could be quite excellent at under cover work, but Rose was supposed to know everything, and he wanted to tell her. Fortunately the young Rose had a bit of a gob on her, and she had no problem holding up a conversation. He mostly just listened, and because it was Rose, he enjoyed it.

"So Shareen said that Crystal said that Jess had nothing to do with it, but I know Jess, the spiteful thing…" Mostly he enjoyed it. The Doctor stared across the street at the people of London. He loved them, but he had already been there for two days. Two days and he hadn't had to save the world once-he never stayed in one place for so long without something interesting happening. He was already starting to get stir-crazy. He had to go…but he couldn't take Rose with him.

They eventually walked back to Rose's housing complex. "I'd invite you up for a bit," Rose said, "but my mum would have your head, and mine, if she knew I was going out with someone so much older."

"Just as well," he said, not wanting to deal with Jackie Tyler when she saw him as a threat to her daughter's innocence, as well as her life.

"So…I guess this is goodnight."

"I reckon so." They stood in a slightly awkward silence. How many years since he had done something as simple as walk a girl home after a date? She probably wanted him to kiss her, and he knew that every time he kissed her, he would fall deeper and deeper into this mess. He also didn't have a choice. Oh the sacrifices he made for the timeline.

He was too depressed to make much of an effort, but Rose was enthusiastic enough for the both of them, and his mood quickly changed. (Might as well enjoy it.) They started standing a few inches apart in the middle of the alley, but soon Rose had her arms around him, and his hands were tangling in her hair as he kissed her lips, her face, her neck. He was the mature one (so to speak). He should have been the one in control, but soon he found himself pushing her against the nearest wall several yards away, the only thoughts in his head were Rose Rose Rose.

"Jimmy-" she gasped, and he pulled away, sliding his hands out from under her shirt. (Jimmy, God what a terrible name. What was he thinking?)

Immediately he was filled with guilt over what he was going to do, what he had already done. Sweet, innocent Rose… "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean-"

"I don't want to be one of _those_ girls," she said. "The ones who cling to a guy as soon as they meet them and fall instantly in love. But I'm not sure I can help it."

"So just go with it," he suggested, and began kissing her again, morals be damned.

It was a good thing they were in public or else he would have ended up doing something absolutely reprehensible. She moaned a little and pushed herself against him when he pulled away. "I'll call you tomorrow," he breathed.

"Good," she said, her hands still clinging to his shirt.

"I can't leave if you're still holding on to me."

"Right." She clung to him tighter, and he kissed her again. Kissed her for several minutes before they separated-she walking slowly to her flat, and the Doctor, feeling weak and shaky as he walked away.

He didn't used to be like this. In years past he wasn't interested in sex, didn't fall in love. But with ever regeneration he was getting younger, more interested in these things. And here he was, nine-hundred plus years and in a body in its sexual prime. Maybe it was a midlife crisis. And poor Rose was going to suffer for it. This was why he usually only fell in love with celebrities. Have a snog with Marilyn Monroe, and it doesn't matter because it's a fantasy. Even when its happening it doesn't feel real, and when you leave, you aren't leaving behind _real_ love, just hero worship. But the last few dozen years, real love, both of a romantic and familial, had been a hard thing to ignore. And it hurt so bad…

The Doctor fingered the key to his Tardis. He needed to get away. Just for a little while.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

The Doctor felt better. A week in prison, a few days on the run, and he went and had himself analyzed by Freud (apparently all of his issues were sexual in nature-as if he didn't know). He felt more himself than he had since meeting Rose, and now he was ready to take on a second date.

"Oh, its you," she said when she answered the phone, her voice flat. It was not the reception he was expecting.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out for some pizza," he said, feeling uneasy.

"Why should I? You said you would call!"

"I am calling."

"You said you would call tomorrow. That was on Wednesday-well it's Saturday now, ain't it?"

The Doctor winced. "Sorry. I lost track of time."

"Lost track? How can you lose track of three days?" She went silent on the other end of the line. "Are you on drugs?" she asked finally.

"_What?_ Of course not!"

"I stayed inside for two days waiting for you to call."

"I'm sorry." God he hated this.

"Yeah? Well what are you going to do to make it up to me?" He thought he heard some of her good nature returning.

"Something wonderful," he promised. "I'll pick you up in an hour?"

"Okay."

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Carrying roses and chocolates proved to be an interesting experience on a motorbike, but he managed. Rose was out on the balcony of her apartment, smiling at him as he rode up. "Nice bike," she called down, and he wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic. "My mum went out-you can come up if you want."

He did, bringing her gifts. "Is this the something wonderful?" she asked, taking the flowers and chocolates with a big grin. Teenage girls were so easy to impress.

"It's not even the beginning," he promised, kissing her cheek. "I'm sorry."

"So where were you really?" she asked, and he followed her into the kitchen where she arranged the flowers in a vase. They were pink and reminded him of her. She was too young for red roses.

"I like to travel," he answered finally. "Move around, see things, meet new people."

"Is that why you're a musician?" she asked. "Get gigs all over the country-must be nice."

"It is."

"I've never been anywhere," she said. "Not really."

"I promise I'll take you somewhere someday," he said. There was a promise he wouldn't be breaking at least. "If I could right now I would take you to the ends of the universe, and beyond."

She laughed. "I'd like to see that. Well, I'd better put these in my room so my mum doesn't see." She turned away and looked back. "Do you want to see my room?"

He smiled a little. "Yeah, I do."

It was pink and cluttered-she had posters all over her walls and pictures stuck around her vanity mirror. The bed was unmade and there were piles of clothes on the floor. He wasn't sure if all teenage girls' rooms looked like this, or if it was just Rose. But he liked it. It felt very comfortable, very her.

Rose arranged the flowers in a vase on her vanity before she sat down on her bed and leaned back, looking up at him. "So what do you think?"

"It's a nice room," he said, still looking around.

"Not about the room silly," she said, and he turned and saw here there, stretched out on the bed, a little girl who only thought she knew what she was doing.

He was going to have to sleep with her.

It was a reality that he had been trying to avoid thinking about, but there it was stretched out in front of him on a baby pink bedspread. He wasn't ready for that. "Wanna go for a ride?" he asked quickly, offering his hand and pulling her to her feet. A ride. A nice, safe ride.

He took her everywhere-all over London. They had Indian food for lunch, Greek for dinner. He took her to all of the tourist attractions she had never been to before, he took her into every shop that caught her eye and bought her so many things that they had to stop shopping because the bags kept falling off the bike. "If this is how you apologize you can be as bad as you want," she said gleefully as they zoomed too fast through London, clutching him tight around the middle so she wouldn't fall off.

He was bribing her into complacency, and he enjoyed her joy, which made him a horrible person. "Where next?" Rose asked, nearly shouting in his ear, pressing herself tight against his back as they roared through the streets. He liked the feeling of her arms and body around him more than he would normally admit.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked.

"To your flat."

He didn't answer, setting his face in a grim non-smile. Six months. It wasn't as if he could keep putting it off. Besides, it wasn't _his_ fault. She was the one making all of the moves. Not his fault. "Okay," he said over his shoulder. He wasn't going to do anything-it was all on her. Her fault, not his. The fate of the universe was in her hands. He was just going along for the ride.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Just a warning, things slip into the heavy M territory here. Tried not to, but I couldnt resist.

Chapter 7

The flat, which he considered shabby but comfortable, was looking downright inadequate when he brought Rose up to it, but she didn't seem to notice or care. He dropped all of the bags of gifts on the floor and stood in the doorway while she explored his three rooms. "It's…interesting," she said finally, sitting down on his sagging sofa.

"It's a work in progress." He continued to stand, even as she reached for the remote control and tried to turn on the television.

"Your telly is broken," she said after hitting the buttons a few times. "Well, stop hovering all over the place. You're making me nervous."

He sat down on the other side of the sofa. He was the nervous one. Rose Tyler, little more than a child, alone with him. "I feel like the big bad wolf-" (bad choice of words)

"And I'm little red riding hood? I'm not a little girl you know."

"I know."

"I've done…things. Lots of things." They both sat silent, an entire sofa cushion between them. "Okay," she said finally. "A few things." She moved closer to him on the sofa and leaned against him. "You could teach me the others." Her lips were soft against his cheek, his neck, before she captured his mouth. One of her hands snaked under his t-shirt and touched the bare skin of his torso, sending shockwaves through his body.

"I guess I don't have to teach you that," he tried to joke when she finally pulled away to breathe. Her hand was still under his shirt and it was driving him _insane_. Visibly insane, but Rose hadn't noticed yet because she was too busy staring into his eyes.

"I know this is crazy," she said. "We barely know each other. But I…I think I want you. And it is crazy because I've never wanted anyone before, but my heart or my mind or my body chemistry or whatever it is that decides these things, it wants you. You can tell me I'm crazy."

"You're not the only one," he managed to mutter. No, no. It couldn't be happening already. She was too young, too inexperienced. Having sex with her at that moment would scar her for life, it would make her do something crazy like-

Like run away with him three years later.

(I'm going to hell.)

Years ago he had definitely not had fantasies about how he would have sex with Rose Tyler. While sex was, as it goes, perfectly enjoyable, it wasn't exactly his _priority_ at that point in his life. He could get swept away in one night stands with the best of them, but Rose was different. Being with her had been enough for both of them, and there was no reason to imagine how things would go.

He would not have imagined it happening on a saggy old couch in a cheap flat in the east end.

She crawled into _his_ lap. He needed to make that clear in his mind. He might have lifted her to help her over just a _little_ bit, but she started it. Rose grew wide-eyed at the feeling of his erection pressed against her underwear (she was wearing an obscenely short skirt that rode up around her waist almost immediately), and gave an experimental wiggle. He moaned, causing her to giggle nervously. "Never done that before," she said, leaning forward to hug him. Her breasts pressed against his chest and he felt her nipples hard underneath layers of clothing. "I want you to show me everything."

(Oh yes.) "I'm going to show you the universe," he promised, and it was all over from there. Clothing was removed quickly and awkwardly. Rose was beautiful. Pale and lithe and so very _young_. Though to be fair he was pretty young himself, and had muscle tone that had definitely not been present since his 9th regeneration. Rose at least, did not seem displeased.

After much petting and exploring he found himself naked and on top of her, pressing against her. She was wet, she was ready. She was writhing in the pleasure of being with him. "Are you sure?" he asked her, knowing what the answer would be.

"Do you have condoms?" she asked, and there was a slight scramble while he fetched them from the bedroom, where the act should have been taking place.

Once properly equipped he looked into her clear hazel Rose eyes. He loved her as strongly as he ever had before. She was…angelic. That was what he loved about her. The complete awe and wonder she felt when he showed her new things. She was strong and clever and beautiful, but that was why he really loved her. Her soul was the same as his-always exploring, always learning and experiencing.

He loved many, many women. But he always loved her just a little bit more.

Despite their previous hurry, he was careful with her. He took his time, letting her get used to his girth inside her, kissing her and touching her to distract her from the pain of her first time. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, closing her eyes, and he whispered in her ear. "I love you."

It was much easier to say this time around. He was a different man, older, even if in this body, he might not be as wise. He wasn't afraid of it, and he wanted her to know, even if he probably shouldn't.

She didn't answer, but wrapped her arms tighter around him, and pressed her cheek against his. He didn't last much longer after that, exploding inside her. He covered her face in kisses as he came down from the delirious high of having finally had her, and she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "You can take it back if you want," she said in a small voice.

"Take what back?"

"You said you loved me. That can't be right."

"I love you," he said again. "I know it doesn't make sense, but-"

"I love you too," she said, and he pulled her into his arms and he held her close until it was time for her to go home.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Several weeks passed, and the Doctor grew increasingly uncomfortable with the situation he had gotten himself into. Half the days Rose would cut school and come over to his flat, waking him up in the morning by crawling into his bed. They spent all day naked, eating take-out and drinking wine, and making love so often he lost count of it all. Fast, slow, against the wall, on the floor-every where and every way. They couldn't get enough of each other. He loved being with her, and hated himself.

Every once in a while, when Rose was asleep in his arms, looking as innocent as she should have been, he felt a horrible gnawing of guilt in his stomach so bad he had to extract himself from her grasp to escape to the loo and throw up. He was destroying her life, taking away a possibly successful (if dull future) of Mickey Smith, university, and a normal life. But if he didn't destroy her he would end up shifting the universe so drastically it would not hold together. So he got drunk and has his way with the angelic teenager, all for the sake of the universe.

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He took a perverse pleasure in making love to her in her own bedroom when her mother was away at work. They were surrounded by her old dolls and stuffed animals, the teenage clutter of clothing and makeup, and all of the _pink_ that was Rose. It felt so much like her-he couldn't resist. They barely fit on her bed, but it was just an excuse to press closer together.

He should have known it wouldn't last.

They were pressed together just so, dosing into a sleep one afternoon when Jackie was supposed to be at work and Rose was to be at school. The Doctor's eyes flew open at the sound of the opening door, but Rose didn't hear until Jackie's footsteps were heard in the hall. "Blasted double scheduling, I have better things to do anyway." Rose was awake now, and they both lay frozen on the bed, unwilling to make a sound. The footsteps stopped at Rose's door. "Like Rose's laundry."

The door seemed to open in slow motion, but Jackie's screams came loud and fast when she saw the two of them. "Who the fuck are you? What the fuck do you think you're doing with my daughter? Why the hell aren't you in school?" She blazed into the room and the doctor rolled out of the bed in a panic, looking for his pants.

"Mum, just calm down," Rose said, wrapping herself in her coverlet and getting to her feet, standing between him and her mother like a soldier facing the enemy. "He's just my boyfriend-"

"Boyfriend! You don't have a boyfriend-and you're not allowed either. Who do you think you are, naked with my daughter!_ Do you know how old she is? How old are you?_"

He couldn't find his trousers and held his shirt up to cover himself. "Please, Jackie-"

"_That's Mrs. Tyler to you_," she raged. "OUT! Get out of here now!"

"Mum," Rose protested but he found his pants and headed for the door at a run. "Jimmy, come back!"

"I'll call you," he said quickly, because Jackie had started throwing things at him as he made his way to the front door, still struggling into his pants. "I promise!"

She chased him all the way out of the complex. It was painful, riding the bike back to his flat barefoot, and cold in just his t-shirt. When he parked the bike behind the building he glanced at the Tardis hidden under a tarp beside the dumpster. He needed a vacation.

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"I thought you were never going to speak to me again!" Rose exclaimed in near tears when he called her.

"How long have I been gone this time?" he asked. He had wanted to run forever, to spend months or years having adventures before coming back, but he knew it would be a bad idea. He had returned to London almost immediately. He missed Rose, and was worried about her.

"You don't know? Three days! I've had to listen to her screaming at me for three days, telling me that you only wanted me for sex, that you weren't going to come back if you had to work for it-"

"I'm here," he promised.

"And I was starting to believe her!"

"Do you want me to come over?"

"You can't! She's been taking me to school every day and wont let me leave the house for anything else. It's horrible. I want to be with you all the time. I want…"

"I know, I know," he soothed. "it's going to be okay."

"How?"

This was it. The beginning of the end. From here on out he would have a six month countdown until the end of their relationship, putting into motion Rose Tyler's destiny.

"Why don't you move in with me?" 


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: sorry 'bout the giant gap between chapters. life happened. here's the last chapter. enjoy.

Chapter 9

They moved her out in the middle of a school day. She went in the front doors of the building and out the back when her mother dropped her off, where he collected her and they circled back to collect her clothes. Two trips on the bike later and she decided she had clothes enough, and then they celebrated until they fell asleep from exhaustion.

He woke up next to her with a sick feeling in his stomach. She wasn't going to go back to school. She hadn't said it yet, but he knew it was true. It was in her mind-school was boring, school was full of people she didn't actually like. The temptation of not going back was too great. He had to let her, to even agree that school was stupid, because that is how the timeline had gone. It was fixed at this point, always had been.

Rose stirred beside him and opened her eyes. "Hello," he said softly.

"Hi," she whispered back. "Why did you ask me to move in with you?"

"Because I love you. More than you could ever imagine."

"I don't know about that," she replied. "This…feeling. Its very strong. Like your arms are the safest, most important place for me to be. Why is that?"

"I can't tell you now," he said. "Maybe you'll figure it out on your own one day, years from now. You'll be different, and I'll _really_ be different."

She laughed a little. "You're not making any sense."

"I know. It's okay. Just…babbling I guess. Go back to sleep, Rose."

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Rose did not go back to school. She refused to talk to her mother, who called the flat every day and begged.

They spent days and then weeks barely leaving each others' side, for six months. He occasionally took the Tardis out for a few joy-rides, some of them lasting for weeks, but he always came back after only a day or two in her time-line. Once he was gone for five days and felt horrible about it. She cried when he came back, and told him she thought he had gotten bored of her.

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He knew their time was running short. One night they lay in bed, and Rose rested in his arms, her head resting against his chest. "Sometimes I feel like I can hear both of our hearts beating at the same time," she whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"When I'm with you…I can just…hear two hearts beating. But that's silly, isn't it?"

"No," he said, a pain in his chest. "Not at all."

"Jimmy-" He groaned. "What?"

"Nothing. Just-nothing."

"Is something wrong?"

Two hearts, and this time both of them were breaking. "I'm going to have to go away for a little while."

"Do you have a gig?"

"Something like that."

"I could come with you."

"No-I need to go alone."

"Oh," she said, a little hurt.

"I won't be gone for very long. A few weeks."

"But that feels like forever," she said, sounding like she was about to cry.

He sat up. "It's not forever Rose. It's a few weeks. You can do without me for a few weeks." His voice was sharper than he had intended because he was lying, and it was killing him. Only a few weeks. Jimmy Stone had to disappear from Rose's life. This would probably be the last time he would ever see her. Forever. And forever, for a Time Lord, was a very long time indeed. "Let's just go to sleep," he said.

The next morning Rose made breakfast, and after they ate he made a show of packing a bag. "I love you," he kept telling her over and over again., desperation growing in his voice. He didn't want to go. He wanted to stay there forever, making love to her and being in love with her. If he didn't go then, before he was too deep, he wasn't going to make it out at all.

"You're starting to scare me," she said finally. "I have this feeling that you don't think you're coming back. Where do you really go when you leave me?"

"I don't know what you mean?"

"I've heard you play," she said, not smiling. "You're rubbish. You're not really a musician, are you?"

"I don't think I'm that bad," he said. "Rose, you're so young…"

"I know that. What does that matter?"

"It just does. I can't tell you things that I want to tell you. So many things. It's hard, you know."

"I don't," she said, her voice wavering. "I want to be with you-if you're doing something you shouldn't be-"

"It's just complicated." This wasn't how he wanted to spend his last minutes with Rose. He just wanted to hold her and kiss her, so he pulled her close. "I love you. I will always love you, through time and space, I will."

"You say such serious things, and it makes me scared." She was crying now, and he kissed away her tears.

"I'm sorry." He kissed her one last time, long and sweet, and he wanted to cry too. "I have to go now, Rose. Take care of yourself."

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When he was back in the Tardis he did cry, and when he fired her up, he didn't really pay much attention to where he was going.

He ended up in front of the one place he wanted to be next to with Rose. River, attracted to the sound of the Tardis, beamed when she opened the door. "Sweetie! Look at you!" she exclaimed, running up to him and taking his face in both hands. "Have I ever told you this is one of my favorite regenerations?"

"It's a new one for me," he admitted, his spirits lifting a little.

"Mmm. It's just so _tight_!" He jumped when she grabbed him from behind. "I've missed you."

"How long have I been gone this time?"

"About a day-but you were someone else yesterday."

River. The one constant in his life, the one that would always be there for him. He leaned against her, burying his face in her hair. "Are you alright?" she asked, picking up on his mood instantly. She admitted to him that he was usually with her for a little bit every day of her life, even if he didn't see her for months on end. A lifetime with the Doctor-she knew him in ways no one else did.

"Not really," he admitted, his voice cracking a little.

She took him by the arm and led him inside. "Rose again, huh?" she sighed and led him into the house. "How many times are we going to have to deal with her?"

He started to walk and then froze. "What do you mean "again?"


End file.
